Christmas 2019 was THE perfect time to receive my very first Kindle (thanks Santa AKA my husband & fam!). Unbeknownst to me at the time, the onslaught of 2020 was about to grant me ample time for reading and exploring my creativity. Thankfully, even with libraries closed, I could still rent books virtually, which allowed me to make a dent in my ever-growing book list. Out of my 24 book goal for the year, I’m already on number 34. Woop woop! I’m here to share with you my take on the best books of 2020.
It’s so hard to narrow down a list so I separated it into two genres: best of fiction and best of non-fiction. I included a bit of commentary about what caught my interest in each book in case you’re trying to evaluate whether or not you should trust my judgment. I also included a bonus all-time favorites list at the end.
I track all of my books on Goodreads; you can find my profile there if you’re interested in exploring the genres I enjoy (and you want to see just how many books are still on my ever-growing want-to-read list).
Genre: Best Fiction Books Read in 2020
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Butterfly Garden (series) by Don Hutchison
- Drift (series) by L.T. Ryan
- Find Me by Anne Frasier
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Atlantis Gene (series) by A.G. Riddle
Commentary
At some point during my reading journey, I started reading multiple serial killer themed books and found that I oddly enjoyed them. Instead of judging myself for it, I followed that path and ended up finding some really compelling reads.
I like to follow the sage advice I heard somewhere: you aren’t obligated to finish a book you’re not enjoying. It’s much better to get engrossed in a story you love than to continue torturing yourself for the sake of finishing a book. As someone who doesn’t like to leave things incomplete, that frame of mind is so freeing and keeps reading fun.
Here’s why I chose those six books as my top favorites:
Ready Player One is the one I read most recently, and because it’s so fresh, it’s currently my top. I delayed reading it for a while because of all the hype when the movie was released. After sitting on it for a while, I finally decided to bite, and I was sucked right in. It’s not the most sophisticated read, but I really enjoyed the plot, social commentary, characters, and setting. The 80’s vibes are strong and I loved it! I suppose that’s also why I enjoyed Stranger Things…guess I’m a sucker for decades past!
The Butterfly Garden series was surprisingly amazing. I started reading it because it was available on Kindle Unlimited and I ended up consuming all of the books in the series. This was the first of the serial-killer themed books to catch my eye. It reminded me of the breaking news stories of long-lost missing persons cases finally getting resolved; reading this book felt like I was an onlooker into a case, except I was able to see the whole picture instead of just seeing it in the news. I really loved the characters – they had great dialogue and character development.
Drift was an interesting murder mystery. The main character captivated me, which made the plot compelling to follow. It was unpredictable and interesting enough that I read through the whole series, though I lost a bit of steam at the end because it started to get a bit repetitive. I especially enjoy when characters are military/ex-military or FBI; I feel like I’m living an alternate life when I get immersed in those worlds.
Find Me left me wanting MORE. There’s only one book out so far, which I was so sad to find out once I got to the end. It was really similar to the Rachel Hatch series. In fact, I read this first and then turned to Rachel Hatch to fill the void I was feeling. I’m excited that there’s another book in progress!
The Giver was recommended to me by a friend and I was really glad I took up the recommendation because the message was transformative. As a young adult book, it’s a very easy read, but the storyline is incredibly impactful and interesting. I like that it allowed me to use my imagination – both in the fictional world created and in the implications of the ending. Love books with a solid social commentary!
The Atlantis Gene series came into my life right when COVID was becoming significant, which was very interesting timing to read about a plague spreading across the modern world. That’s perhaps one of the reasons this became one of my favorites; I was able to draw many parallels between the books and what was going on around me. It’s a good thing I’m not a conspiracy theorist or else I might have gone a little bit crazy! I enjoyed the concept of these books a lot, though the conclusion of the series was more sci-fi than I would have liked.
Genre: Best Non-Fiction Books Read in 2020
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
- The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
- How Not to Die by Michael Greger
Commentary
For a long time, I didn’t love non-fiction books, and I realized it was probably because I didn’t know how to pick out the good ones. I kept reaching for the books that someone else told me I ought to read instead of the ones that really interested me. I’m so pleased to have discovered so many non-fiction books that speak to my soul!
Finding a good non-fiction book is so satisfying. Learning is one of my values, so it gives me such pleasure to come across a book that feeds me good information and makes me crave more. Not only can I apply the concepts I read about immediately in my life, but I can also contribute better to conversations and add value to others.
Here’s why I chose those six books as my top favorites:
Man’s Search for Meaning was my suggestion for book club (which my friends and I started up just this past year). The author acted like my therapist in the moments I was reading the book. It felt like he understood me on a totally new level; he was speaking to concepts that resonated deep within my soul and he was able to give me answers to my impossible questions through his work in logotherapy and his story-telling. I am so thankful that Viktor Frankl wrote this book!
The Boys in the Boat was a surprisingly good read. It was pretty mellow with not a whole lot of action, but I really enjoyed spending time with the characters and imagining life in their shoes. It was based in Washington, so I felt a particularly personal connection to the PNW setting. Interesting that my first two picks are Holocaust-era related…
Blink gave me a lot of things to think about and analyze on top of everything I already over-analyze. Psychology is such an interesting topic to me and I was surprised at how many things I learned about subconscious decision-making by reading this. Malcolm Gladwell is an amazing storyteller and I just loved getting immersed in his narrative.
Never Split the Difference comes back to my love of FBI-related themes, as I mentioned in the fiction section above. The author is an ex-FBI hostage negotiator. Because of his background, he brings an interesting perspective to the topic of negotiation. I love that the work he did with the FBI relates directly to the real world. I get lost imagining what it must be like in crazy situations he describes that I will hopefully never ever find myself in.
The $100 Startup was gifted to me by one of my friends for Secret Santa. She picked well! Entrepreneurship is my jam, so reading about how different entrepreneurs got their ideas off the ground really spoke to me. I enjoyed reading about the different types of people who pursued their passions, no matter how weird or niche they seemed at first. It fueled a fire under me to get my ideas out there and help others do the same.
How Not to Die was gifted to me and Jake by my parents as a wedding gift. It’s a hefty book and I honestly haven’t gotten to the end yet (working on it!), but since it’s more of a reference-type book, I already know it’s worth recommending. I appreciate the author’s approach to how to realistically implement the concept of food as medicine. As I read each chapter, I make small adjustments to my eating habits, and I feel good knowing why certain choices are better than others. Nutrition is so important to us and it’s great to have a guide to keep us grounded among so all of the overwhelming information available.
Bonus: All-Time Favorite Books
I’m so emotional and I get really attached to characters, so after I finish reading a book I have to take some time to digest it and separate my thoughts from the characters’. While I have many books I’d recommend for different reasons, I pretty much have three that I love more than anything else. Those are:
- Inferno by Dan Brown ♥
- Eragon (series) by Christopher Paolini
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Commentary
Inferno is hands down my favorite book of all. I own it in English and Slovak and I’ve read it multiple times. Dan Brown is so freaking amazing; I’ve read all of his books and absolutely love his style and genre of writing. I refuse to watch the movie version of Inferno because I’ve heard it’s terrible and strays from the plot. Whatever is in my head is better than what a movie could give me. The story has everything I ever want in a book and is so relevant to our world right now and is just SO GOOD.
Eragon is one I read a while ago and absolutely fell in love with. The characters have stayed with me since then, they were that good. I remember hunting down the last book of the series in London during my first week of study abroad because I just HAD to know what happened next. Stories that stick with me like that are something special.
The Fault in Our Stars plays to one of my favorite topics to obsess over: cancer. I tend to really enjoy stories where the main characters are battling cancer. What I love most about this book are the characters and how they interact with each other. The movie doesn’t quite capture their quirky thoughts in the same way; the internal monologues were one of the most compelling pieces of this book.
Share Your Favorite Reads
Sometimes I wish I could download books into my head instead of having to arduously read through them. Other times, I wish the books never ended so I could keep spending time with the characters. These books that I never wanted to put down were the ones I shared with you today.
What are your top reads in 2020? How about top reads of all time? Let me know in the comments below!
